Israel's Arab parties recalculate as Gantz joins Netanyahu
Blue and White leader Benny Gantz' decision to join a government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has deeply disappointed the Arab public.
“These are not ordinary days and they require extraordinary decisions. Thus, as I have said, I intend to examine the formation of a national emergency government,” declared Blue and White leader Benny Gantz March 26 upon his election as speaker of the Knesset, with the support of the right/ultra-Orthodox bloc.
The move led to the breakup of Blue and White and paved the way for Gantz and his party, Hosen L’Israel or Israel Resilience, into a government headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Who remembers now that on the day after the general election Gantz declared, “I won’t serve in a government led by a man under indictment?”
We must admit the truth that Netanyahu has proven that thanks to the global coronavirus crisis, politically, the number 58 is somehow greater than 62. Netanyahu has succeeded in forming a government with himself at the top without 61 mandates for the right/ultra-Orthodox bloc, mostly because he has managed to identify the weak links in the center-left-Arab bloc: Knesset members Orly Levy-Abekasis, Yoaz Handel and Zvi Hauzer.
While these three lawmakers entered the Knesset on center-left lists and thanks to the voices of center-left voters, they vehemently opposed the formation of a minority government headed by Gantz and with the support of the Joint List. Thus they contributed to the creation of the conditions that allowed Gantz to join a government headed by Netanyahu, in contrast to the repeated declarations of Blue and White candidates that they wouldn’t serve in a government with someone who is criminally indicted. It's an absurd performance: While Gantz holds a mandate from the president to form a government, he conducts negotiations for a government headed by Netanyahu.
